Helios "Type 69" Consoles

Helios, along with the EMI/Abbey Road, Sound Techniques and early Trident boards, represents the pinnacle of classic British consoles. Besides EMI consoles, no other console made more hit records than any other console in its short history between 1969 and 1979.

Think that The Beatles (All You Need is Love), The Who (Who’s Next for e.g.), Jimi Hendrix (all Jimi Hendrix Experience albums), The Rolling Stones (nearly all albums between 1967 and 1980), Bob Marley (all albums), Led Zeppelin (all albums), Black Sabbath (Paranoid), Stephen Stills (first two albums), Elton John, The Eagles (first two albums), Eric Clapton, David Bowie (Diamond Dogs), Queen (A Night at the Opera) and countless others all recorded on the same kind of Helios console, the famous “Type 69,” all boasting the exact same preamps and equalizers.

Some of the most most famous studios in rock history adopted Helios consoles. The most famous place which started the history of Helios was Olympic Studios. It’s head technician, Richard “Dick” Swettenham, designed the Helios console for Olympic based on input from its star engineers which included Glyn Johns and his brother Andy, Eddie Kramer, Gus Dudgeon, and George Chkiantz (the inventor of phasing!). Other studios and artists quickly adopted what was considered the best console in the world including The Beatles which installed a Helios console at Apple Studios. Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Ronnie Wood, Ginger Baker and Steve Winwood among others all installed Helios consoles in their home studios and the Rolling Stones set up their famous “Rolling Stones Mobile” studio with a Helios (remember the “mobile” mentioned in Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”). Island Studios bought two, Virgin Records installed three consoles, Hansa Studios and Musicland both installed Helios in their studios and attracted international stars to Germany ranging from Bowie to Donna Summer. The Who built Ramport Studios around a classic Helios and so did Leon Russell for his record label.

The console’s “secret” lies in its incredibly simple but faithful signal path. What you hear in the room is what you get through the speakers. However, it allows for powerful manipulation of the sound via its exceptional inductor-based EQs and tone-shaping gain structure. Remember the drums on “Led Zeppelin I” and “Who’s Next”? Helios! The revolutionary sounds of Jimi’s Stratocaster on “Axis:Bold As Love”? Helios! Don Henley’s haunting vocal soaring over the orchestra on the Eagles’ “Desperado”? Helios! The destruction-bent rhythm of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” and “War Pigs”? Helios! The thumping bass of Bob Marley’s “One Love” and “Exodus”? Helios! The soulful organ on Procol Harum’s classic “A Whiter Shade of Pale”? Helios! We could go on and on recounting the past 50 years of pop music and one element remains from The Beatles “All You Need is Love” in 1967 to AC/DC “Highway to Hell” in 1979: Helios!